6/1/25 Worship Service & Sermon: Celebrating God's Faithfulness - Various Passages

/ Brick Lane Community Church/
  • Worship leader: John Sletta, Elder
  • Speaker: Dave Royes, Senior Pastor

Sermon: Celebrating God's Faithfulness
Scripture referenced: Leviticus 23, Deuteronomy 29, John 7
Main Point: Holy people practice deliberate rejoicing

  1. The fruit being recognized
    a. A safeguard against the sin of presumption
    b. A safeguard against the sin of self-sufficiency
    *Reflection: What fruit has grown up among us by God's kindness to us?
  2. The truths passed on
    a. God is mighty to save
    b. God graciously sustains
    c. God is passionate about His glory
    *Reflection What sort of things should we appropriately remember to pass on?
  3. The sacrifice in worship
    "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." — Luke 22, 1 Corinthians 11

5/25/25 Worship Service & Sermon: Job Begs an Audience With God - Job 13-31

/ Brick Lane Community Church/

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5/25/2025 Worship Service & Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Scripture: Job 13-31
Title: Job Begs an Audience With God
Worship leader: Tyler Estes
Speaker: Steve Estes

Job 13:3,13-14:22:

Job to his friends

I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God. Keep silent and let me speak; then let come to me what may. Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands? Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless man would dare come before him! Listen carefully to my words; let your ears take in what I say. Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated. Can anyone bring charges against me? If so, I will be silent and die.

Job to God

Only grant me these two things, O God, and then I will not hide from you: withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors. Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply. How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin. Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy? Will you torment a windblown leaf? Will you chase after dry chaff? For you write down bitter things against me and make me inherit the sins of my youth. You fasten my feet in shackles; you keep close watch on all my paths by putting marks on the soles of my feet. So man wastes away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths.

Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure. Do you fix your eye on such a one? Will you bring him before you for judgment? Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one! Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired man. At least there is hope for a tree: if it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant. But man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more. As water disappears from the sea or a riverbed becomes parched and dry, so man lies down and does not rise; til the heavens are no more, men will not awake or be roused from their sleep. If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me! If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made. Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin. My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.

But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place, as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy man's hope. You overpower him once for all, and he is gone; you charge his countenance and send him away. If his sons are honored, he does not know it, if they are brought low, he does not see it. He feels but the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.

Job 19:25-27: I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end, he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes--I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Job 31:35-37: Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defense--let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing. Surely I would wear it on my shoulder, I would put it on like a crown. I would give him an account of my every step; like a prince I would approach him.

Notes:

1. Review

2. Job has reached an unbearable level of frustration
A. Conversations with his friends has gotten him nowhere
B. His complaints about God have gotten him nowhere
C. His complaints to God have gotten him nowhere
D. Yet through it all, through the tears and pain...

3. Job is about to request an actual encounter with God
A. Job is now on a mission to hear God's actual voice
B. Job knows his intent is dangerous
C. Despite the risk, Job believes he will be vindicated before God
D. As Job waits, he ponders death and sin

4. Job protests the seeming unfairness of it all
A. Job protests that God seems to think of nothing but sin, and sin leads to death
B. Job longs for a resurrection he thinks will never happen
C. Job needs a mediator to bring these matters to God

5. Lessons

5/18/2025 Worship Service & Sermon: Job’s Early Replies - Three readings from Job

/ Brick Lane Community Church /

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5/18/25 Worship Service & Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Scripture: Three readings from Job
Title: Job's Early Replies
Speaker: Steve Estes

First reading

Then Job replied: If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas--no wonder my words have been impetuous...What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? (Job 6:1-3, 11-12)

Does not man have hard service on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired man? Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages, so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me. When I lie down I think, "How long before I get up?" The night drags on, and I toss till dawn. My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and they come to an end without hope. Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again. (7:1-7)

Second reading

Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again. The eye that now sees me will see me no longer; You will look for me, but I will be no more. As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to the grave does not return. He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more. (7:7-10)

Why then did You bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me. If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave! Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moment's joy before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and deep shadow, to the land of deepest night, of deep shadow and disorder, where even light is like darkness. (10:18-22)

Third reading

I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You put me under guard? When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, even then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine. I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning. What is man that You make so much of him, that You give him so much attention, that You examine him every morning and test him at every moment? Will You never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have You made me Your target? Have I become a burden to you? Why do You not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; You will search for me, but I will be no more. (7:11-21)

Notes:

1. Review
A. The story
B. Our approach working through the Book of Job

2. The Book of Job illustrates that God may allow believers to suffer intensely

3. The Book of Job shows factors that intensify believers' sufferings
A. Sufferings intensify when we don't grasp the role of Satan in them
B. Sufferings intensify when we don't grasp how God's glory can shine through them
C. Sufferings intensify when we don't grasp that heavenly rewards await believers who remain faithful
D. Sufferings intensify through the voices of unhelpful friends

4. The Book of Job shows that true believers who suffer keep engaging God
A. Job frankly speaks about and to God
B. Yet he does not bolt!

5. Lessons
A. Much misery comes from what Christians know yet disbelieve
B. God mercifully receives believers who are far from perfect

5/11/25 Worship Service & Sermon: Jesus & the Children - Mark 10:13-16

/ Brick Lane Community Church/

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5/11/25 Worship Service & Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Scripture: Mark 10:13-16
Title: Jesus & the Children
Worship Leader: Dave Stoltzfus
Speaker: Steve Estes

NIV: People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

ESV: And they were bringing little children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

Notes:

1. The story
A. The setting is unclear
B. What age were these children?
C. Why were the disciples rebuked?

2. Jesus rebuked disciples who kept children from Him
A. Parents become angry when they think their child has been wronged
B. How might adults today hinder children from coming to Jesus?
C. Jesus praises parents who do the opposite

3. Jesus blessed the children who were brought to Him
A. Consider what it means to bless someone
B. What sort of blessing were the parents seeking?
C. Consider the manner in which Jesus blessed them
D. What exactly was the result?

4. Accepting the kingdom of God like a little child
A. What Jesus doesn't mean
B. What Jesus does mean

#Jesus #children

5/4/25 Worship Service and Sermon: Eliphat “Comforts” Job - Job 4-5

/ Brick Lane Community Church/

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5/4/25 Worship Service & Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Scripture: Job 4-5
Title: Eliphaz "Comforts" Job
Speaker: Steve Estes

Notes:

1. How to think about hard Bible passages
A. Every Christian should work to understand the Bible as best they can
B. There's a reason God gave the church pastors and teachers
C. What to do when you feel lost

2. Review of past three chapters
A. The blameless man
B. The adversarial wager
C. The terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days
D. The three friends

3. Eliphaz's speech
A. The Temanite
B. The tone
C. The doctrine
D. The vision
E. The advice

4. What Eliphaz got right

5. What Eliphaz got wrong
A. His manner
B. His content

Benediction

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood...to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. (Revelation 1:5b-6)

#eliphaz #job #suffering #bricklanecommunitychurch #bricklanechurch #elverson #pennsylvania #worship #sermon

4/27/25 Worship Service & Sermon: Eye-Opening Light: Seeing Through Shame - John 9

/ Brick Lane Community Church/

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4/27/25 Worship Service & Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Scripture: John 9
Title: Eye-Opening Light: Seeing Through Shame
Worship Leader: Matt Griffith
Speaker: Dave Royes

Notes:

1. Intro: "What's your story?"

2. Main point

3. The reasons for shame
A. Our own sin
B. The sins of others
C. God's work

4. The redemption displayed
A. Jesus cleanses him
B. Jesus exhibits him
C. Jesus shepherds him

5. The reversal of sight

#blind #shame #Jesus

4/20/25 Easter Service: When Weeping Gives Way to Witness - John 20:1-18

/ Brick Lane Community Church/

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4/20/25 Easter Service from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Scripture: John 20:1-18
Title: When Weeping Gives Way to Witness
Worship Leader: Randy Hepler
Speaker: David Royes

Notes:

1. Main Idea

2. Wondering about Truth
A. The tomb provokes questions
B. The Scripture speaks

3. Weeping that Turns
A. Jesus is The Resurrection
B. Jesus is The Good Shepherd
C. Jesus is The Way to The Father

4. Witnessing to Triumph

#Jesus #resurrection #marymagdalene

4/13/25 Worship Service & Sermon: Eye-Opening Light: Seeing at Night - John 3:1-21

/ Brick Lane Community Church/

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4/13/25 Worship Service & Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Scripture: John 3:1-21
Title: Eye-Opening Light: Seeing at Night
Speaker: David Royes

Notes:

1. Main point

2. A Religious Man (with a hidden problem)
A. A man with wealth and influence
B. A man with spiritual curiosity, but cultural hindrance

3. The Triune God (with an unbelievable plan)
A. The Spirit gives life
B. The Son is lifted
C. The Father loved

4. All people (with ultimate beliefs)
A. Whoever
B. Response to the Light
C. Empty living vs. eternal living

#bornagain #eternalliving #Jesus #nicodemus